They say that if there’s a will, there’s a way. If you want a pizza slice but are worried about its caloric/fat content, you can still do away with it. It’s a matter of choosing the right crust, sauce, cheese, and toppings. You will not feel guilty if you choose the ingredients of your pizza.
There are a lot of pizzerias that offer pizza by the slice in Vancouver and other cities. Take them up to their offer. Don’t order the whole box. You will be compelled to finish it all (sometimes, in one sitting). Buy by the slice so that you only get that one slice to enjoy.
Homemade Pizza
Health experts consider pizza unhealthy food because it is high in fat, sodium, and sugar. Slices bought from fast-food chains, pizzeria, and the frozen food section of the grocery are the worst kinds of pizza. You have no control over them. They are laden with fat, carbs, sugar, and sodium. One pizza slice can equate to 380 calories. Can you imagine that?
You can make healthier choices. Making pizza from scratch using fresh and whole ingredients will bring down the calorie content. For example, you can make your pizza crust using whole-grain flour or gluten-free flour. You can even go with grain-free flour using powdered cauliflower and nuts.
Choose unsweetened sauce, fresh cheese, and vegetables for your toppings. Instead of the usual suspects, you can have mushrooms, onions, garlic, sundried tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, arugula, and grilled chicken breasts. Do away with the pepperoni, beef, and ham, please.
Fast Food Pizzas
You can still get your pizza slice from your favorite fast-food chain. However, choose a medium-sized pizza rather than the extra-large one. Don’t get the crust stuffed with cheese or sausage, too. That adds about 20 more calories to your slice.
And although it is tempting to get the deep-dish Chicago-style pizza, stop yourself from doing so. One slice of a deep-dish pizza can add 320 calories to your diet. If you go for a thin crust, you’ll cut down about 70 calories. This means you can enjoy a regular-sized pizza slice for 250 calories.
For toppings, pile your pizza with vegetables. Most vegetables mix well with pizza sauce. You have to choose the ones you like. Also, get chicken breast or lean ham instead of sausage, beef, and pepperoni.
Skip the Dip
Many pizza parlors have adopted one popular pizza chain’s garlic dipping sauce. They now offer a variety of garlic butter, ranch, and honey mustard dipping sauces. Yes, these all taste amazing. But please, please skip them. The pizza slice is good enough. You don’t need to dip it into something that contains 25 to 42 grams of fat. That’s too much.
It is difficult to make a pizza healthier because it wasn’t made to be healthy. You can always try to make a healthier version. But eating it won’t have the same satisfaction as gobbling up a slice of regular pizza. The key here is not to eat it every day. Reward yourself with a slice occasionally. You deserve a treat anyway.
